[På norsk] On December 7th, Grappa released the CD Bønn for drømmen (“Prayer for the Dream”), an album with Sigmund Groven’s music set to a series of poems by Hans Børli. The Børli centenary project consists of newly composed music, concerts, a poetry blog, theatre performances and other art events. The CD was released the day before what would have been Børli’s 100th birthday.

The CD features specially and newly composed music by Sigmund Groven, with musical performances by the composer, Aage Kvalbein (cello) and Ivar Anton Waagaard (piano). Børli’s lyrics are sung by Maren Myrvold and Marianne Bye Granheim.

About two years ago, the two singers Marianne Bye Granheim (mezzo-soprano) and Maren Myrvold (soprano) approached Sigmund Groven with selected poems by Hans Børli, which they hoped he would compose music for. The purpose was the poet’s year-long centenary festival. The music was eventually used for the first time at a Børli event in June 2017. Now the music album is ready and released by Grappa.

Bønn før drømmen includes 12 songs with Børli’s lyrics set to Groven’s music. Both Børli’s earlier rhythmic poems that lends themselves well to songs, and later free form poetry in a more modern style is represented on the CD.

The day after the release you’ll hear the composer, the musicians and the singers perform Bønn for drømmen live at the National Library in Oslo, on the day that would have been Hans’s 100th birthday.

About:
Hans Børli (1918 – 1989) was a Norwegian poet and writer, who also worked as a lumberjack all his life. Børli was born in Eidskog in Hedmark, Norway. He was raised on a small farm in a road-less area in the forests of Eidskog municipality. The experience of poverty and hardship would leave a deep imprint on his art. After having actively fought and getting captured in the Second World War, Børli took up writing and published his first collection, Tyrield, in 1945. His writings were a characteristic blend of traditional and free form, romance and realism, perversion, seriousness, social awareness and religious quest. He published 27 poetry collections and novels and won several awards.

On November 17, 2017 Grappa released a compilation CD where Sigmund Groven is involved as musician and producer. Musician Johan Øian (1915 – 1978) was known to Norwegians as the radio orchestra pianist, but he was also a composer of 360 registered musical works, often music set to lyrics by poets and authors such as Hans Børli, André Bjerke, Thorbjørn Egner and Alf Prøysen. Øian’s most well known children’s songs include the music for classics such as Helene Harefrøken, Bolla Pinnsvin and Nøtteliten. The 52-track double CD Johan Øien – pianisten og komponisten gives you a broad insight into the artistic work of Johan Øian, as a pianist and composer of classical music and folk tunes.

Much of the music presented on the CD originates from the rich archives of national broadcaster NRK, while 17 tracks were recently recorded with Sigmund Groven as producer. Two NRK archive recordings with Sigmund and Johan Øian have never been released before; Melodie Beguine (1976) and Engelsk landsbystemning (“English village mood”, 1975). There are also two recordings where Tommy Reilly and Johan Øian join forces; Seventeen Come Sunday and Om kvelden (“In the evening”), both from Reilly’s album Colours of my Life (1967), the latter track being produced by Sigmund Groven. There are also 9 other tracks where you can hear Sigmund’s musicianship supporting Øian’s music. Finally, Sigmund contributes to the CD’s liner notes.

Fact of the Month:
Sigmund’s discography

Sigmund Groven is not only a master harmonica performer and a versatile composer, he is also an experienced recording artist. His discography now counts 28 albums, starting with Så spiller vi harmonica in 1975. That means a new album almost every 18 months for 40 years! His latest album is Tradition, a compilation of his finest folk music recordings.

Sigmund’s records span a variety of genres, purposes and musical formats. His back catalogue include soundtrack for TV and movies, music to poetry, collaborations with some of the finest musicians in Norway, recordings with major orchestras, evergreens and popular hits arranged for the harmonica, and of course several albums with his own compositions.

One example is Musikken inni oss from 1981, where Sigmund shares the stage with Arve Tellefsen, arguably the most famous violinist in Norway. Tellefsen is in his own right a prominent artist, having appeared with the Royal Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, The Hallé, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Welsh Orchestra, the Liverpool Philharmonic and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and that’s only from his UK career. Musikken inni oss, meaning “the music inside us” offers nine original compositions by Sigmund and three folk tunes.

Coincidentally, 1981 was Sigmund’s most busy year in terms of records. That year he released two other albums, also collaborations, as he teamed up with poet Ove Røsbak and singer-author Geirr Lystrup for two albums based on poetry. On Kom sol på alle mine berg, meaning “let the sun shine on my mountains”, Sigmund Groven set music to lyrics by the poet Halvor J. Sandsdalen, with Geirr Lystrup singing and Sandsdalen performing 10 of his own poems. Sandsdalen, who often is compared to great poets like Jakob Sande, Vidar Sandbeck and Alf Prøysen, often used the population and nature of his home county Telemark as basis for his writing, which makes the link to Sigmund’s home area complete.